MY NAME IS… GABRIEL?
Copyright © 2008 by Anthony and Crystal Nguyen
Chapter Four of Six: Reflection
The house was quiet. No one knew he was arriving. No one ever knew. He encountered the husband first, but simply raised his hand, unleashing a cruel wintry. The man spent a longer amount of time with the wife, impaling her body one blade at a time. He could not locate the child, but this did not bother him. He would find her soon, rip open her skull and—
Gabriel's eyes flew open; the sight of a very plain, gray wall met him as it did everyday. He noticed his irregular breathing and recalled the nightmare that plagued his sleeping mind the previous night. He slowly raised his body from the concrete slab and used a hand to wipe the nervous sweat that had collected on his forehead.
"What is happening to me?" he quietly asked. "Why do I keep having these dreams?"
His mind felt as if it was going to split every which way. He found that forced concentration only increased this pain so he swung his legs over the edge of the concrete and massaged his temples with weak fingers.
After the headache had temporarily subsided, Gabriel observed that his daily lunch had been dropped off in the food slot while he was, so to speak, dead to the world.
He unsteadily made his way over to the opening and peeked inside to see what gag-worthy, poor excuse of nourishment was being served today. First, there was a small, plastic tray that messily included a type of mystery meat casserole, several unnameable vegetables and an already sealed container of chocolate pudding. Beside the tray were the plastic utensils and the usual cup of cold water.
Knowing that this was as good as it gets, he removed the tray from the slot and set it down on the concrete slab. He positioned himself in front of the food while sitting cross-legged on his bed and stared at it without ever having the intention of ingesting the slop into his body.
Sighing, Gabriel picked up the cup and drained the contents into his mouth without a second thought. The shock of the icy drink alerted his senses and he became more aware of his surroundings. He also regained his ability to think comprehensibly without his head severely aching him.
He sadly recalled the events of yesterday's visit with his mother. He was angry at his impulsive temper, but she was his only way out, his only escape plan. And now, there wasn't any chance of him getting an early release.
And then… And then there was that phenomenon. That indescribable event that happened after his mother had left the room, when the paintings had been floating.
He tightly closed his eyes. "Was I hallucinating? Am I really crazy?" His defensive self immediately cried out, "No, I'm not crazy!" but his more logical self said, "Of course I was hallucinating. I'm in a mental hospital. Obviously, I'm still sick."
However, Gabriel's hopeful side questioned the impossible, "Was it me?"
He reopened his eyes, knowing that this situation wasn't going to be any clearer than it was twenty-four hours ago. As a distraction, he moved to pick up the tray and place it back into the slot, but could not locate it. Taken aback, he leaned over the edge, thinking that it had fallen and he had somehow not noticed. But it wasn't anywhere near the ground; it was hovering five feet above his bed.
Gabriel was rooted to the spot, his expression full of disbelief. "How is this h-happening?" He continued to stare, but then decided to move forward. As soon as he did, the food tray stopped its levitation and clattered down upon the bed, the sound echoing throughout the room.
There was a sense of familiarity about this abnormality, this specialness. "I wonder if…"
But before he could finish his sentence, he focused his eyes on the empty cup in front of him and put as much of his mental force as he could towards it.
The cup remained motionless.
Come on. Move… move… Gabriel silently urged. Please. Give me a reason to live, to know that I'm not crazy!
The cup slightly twitched in response to his desperate, internal outburst, causing him to widen his eyes and lose his concentration for a small moment. Just a little more… he thought, refocusing. Just… just… MOVE!
At that very moment, the plastic cup traveled across the length of the concrete rectangle, one inch at a time, a gravelly noise emitting from the cup scraping against the rough surface. Eventually, it reached the edge and toppled out of sight.
There was a dead silence as Gabriel went through the process of replaying the scene back and forth in his mind for reassurance that he wasn't insane, but then he doubled over as his head began to explode with the invasion of haunting visions…
A man sat in a watchmaker's shop, Gray & Sons, restoring a timepiece. His neat brown hair contrasted greatly with his pale, clean-shaven face. He wore glasses with several specific lenses and was joined by another man, much older. The two were in deep conversation.
"The self-winding coil is loose. Your watch is running two seconds slow."
"How did you know?"
"Just a talent I have for the way things work, how the parts should go."
The scene gave way to another, blurring slightly as it did so.
The setting was identical, but stationed closer to the front door. The watchmaker was present and in the company of a different man.
"So you can help?"
"Don't worry, Brian, I can fix it. It's an evolutionary imperative!"
Unfortunately, this sequence was similar to the domino effect: once the first memory had been recollected, the process could not stop.
"Hello, Chandra. Why won't you talk to me? You can't leave me like this…"
"Hello, Mr. Sylar. I asked you not to call here anymore."
"The hunger, it's—I can't control it. I don't want to. You made me this way."
"I made you a murderer?"
The question continued to sinisterly echo as the next flashback began.
The watchmaker, now looking much more rugged, was locked in a small isolation cell. On the opposite side of the glass, stood a short-haired brunette woman.
"I'm gonna take this gun, and I'm gonna put it in that slot. You're gonna take it, and you're gonna blow your brains out."
"You knew, didn't you?"
He swiftly pulled his fist back, causing the woman to fly straight towards him, shattering the glass. The shock was visible even through her terrified and bloodstained face. To worsen the situation, the man roughly took a hold of her neck.
"You knew what I was, and you let it continue. In a way, you helped me. And after I've consumed your power, you'll help me even more."
The woman slowly brought up the gun in her right hand, suggesting his own death.
"Oh, Eden, you know that won't hurt me."
To his surprise, she aimed the muzzle at her own head. The deafening sound of her gunshot not only reverberated from wall to wall within his dream, but also forced Gabriel's abrupt awakening…
There was a great intake of breath as his body lifted from the solid concrete. The throbbing of his head began to die away, but his mind was still pulsing with this newfound revelation. He gradually slid himself off the bed, his legs feeling powerful for the first time.
He traveled to the large panel of glass directly in front of him, intently gazing at his appearance. The person he caught sight of was a different man. This man was not innocent, not childlike, not Gabriel Gray. After the return of his memories, after acknowledging his reflection, his true identity was obvious.
"My name is…" he lingered, a malicious grin stretching across his face. "Sylar."
TO BE CONTINUED…
Copyright © 2008 by Anthony and Crystal Nguyen
